Battlefield 1942 is the Swedish Game of the Decade

Double up for Stockholm-based developer, EA DICE, which won both the Swedish game of the decade as well as the Swedish Game of the year at the Swedish Video Game Awards 2010.

Sweden consolidated its position as one of the strongest game development countries over the past decade with the industry viewed as a growing cultural export that employs 1,400 people in Sweden. In order to mark the achievement, an award for the Swedish game of the decade was presented to EA DICE and their World War 2 depiction - Battlefield 1942. The game which was released in 2002 changed the overall perception of online gaming. The Stockholm based developer also went home with the Swedish Game of the Year award for its current sequel – Battlefield 1943.

"With so many successful games over the years, I believe DICE and the Battlefield franchise have achieved a unique status not only within the Swedish video game market, but internationally. Their greatness is so extensive that they may shortly have a gravitational pull of their own," jury chairman Ove Kaufeldt said.

The Game of the Year Award went to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, an action adventure which sees the hero Nathan Drake is on the hunt for the lost treasure of Marco Polo. The Swedish people were also given the chance to vote for their game of the year in the People's choice award in collaboration with Pricerunner, CDON, GAME and Webhallen. The people chose Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – which won with 23 percent of the votes.

This year, the MDTS Honorary Award went to Heikki Karbing – who ran HK Electronics, one of the most successful importers of games in the 80s as well as accounting for over 70 percent of game sales in Sweden. HK Electronics garnered great success in 1988 with racing classic Out Run, which sold over 20 000 copies following its release on the Commodore 64. In the same year, Karbing’s company rose to prominence as the world's best gaming distributor of Activision. For his pioneering work in helping define and spread word of gaming culture as well as his courage to stand up against piracy - Heikki Karbing has been awarded the honorary prize.

For more information, history and photos from previous game awards visit: http://www.swedishgamesindustry.com/